52 W o r c e s t e r 3 0 0 : C i t y o f I n n o v a t o r s
1922-2021
I
n the early 1960s, drug-based contraception
was considered a healthy (and affluent)
person's choice by regulatory agencies, and
therefore usage risks would not be tolerated
as they would for someone with a health
condition.
It didn't help that the oral contraceptive's
introduction emerged at the same time data about
serious birth defects in the U.K. and Germany of the
use of thalidomide by pregnant women as a sleep aid.
In the U.S. FDA reviewer Dr. Frances Kelsey (1914-
2015) refused to approve thalidomide for U.S. use.
e pill had its genesis in Worcester, through the
research work of Dr. Gregory Pincus (1903-1967), co-
founder of the Worcester Foundation of Experimental
Biology and Dr. Min Chueh Chang (1908-1991), with
the aid of Dr. John Rock (1890-1984).
e pill that
flipped the
cultural script
Pincus & Chang brough oral
contraception to the masses
e back story: Pincus held a Cornell biology
degree, and taught zoology at Harvard, while earning
his master's and doctorate degrees. He became
assistant professor in 1931, cultivating interest in
hormonal biology and steroidal hormones, focusing
Gregory G. Pincus
Min Chueh Chang
In the early
years, Gregory
Pincus also
worked
as the WFEB
lab's janitor
to save on
expenses and
support his
wife and two
children. Today,
more than 100
million women
worldwide
and 12 million
women in the
United States
are using oral
contraceptives.
PHOTOS | WORCESTER HISTORICAL MUSEUM
